


The Torch that Burns Atop the Silver Peak

by anonymouslentils



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Dinner, Friendship, Mountaineering, Mountains, Mt. Shirogane | Mt. Silver, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22623046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymouslentils/pseuds/anonymouslentils
Summary: Gold scaled Mount Silver in order to battle Red.
Kudos: 16





	1. Investigations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold, Lance, and Blue have dinner together to discuss the former Kanto champion, Red.

Lance took a sip from his tea and glanced at the boy in front of him. The former champion was having dinner with the current champion of Johto. The young boy who had defeated Lance in battle was curious about the former champion of Kanto. He had mysteriously left the region and perched himself atop the tallest mountain known to man.

“So he just sent you the letter and then left?” Gold questioned Lance.

“Yes, yes he did. He just told me to free the spot for champion and left. When I tracked down his mother to ask her about it, she said that he had just had dinner with her before leaving,” Lance replied. “The dinner was a sort of ‘goodbye’ to his mother. He even cooked her favourite dish for her and everything.”

“Did he tell her _why_ he was leaving to Mount Silver?” Gold asked. “I mean, surely he would tell his own mom why he was going to move to a mountain far, _far_ away from civilization, right?”

“Nope. He told her the same thing he told me,” Lance answered. “Said he was going to train on the mountain because the league had nothing left for him, apparently.”

Gold went silent as he seemed to contemplate the idea. How could someone survive for years atop a mountain where wild pokemon on the level of gym leaders roamed? Furthermore, there were no supplies up there, like pokemarts or pokecenters. Gold almost didn’t believe it, but former champions had travelled to Mount Silver and had seen Red themselves. All of their stories described him as being unfazed by everything the mountain threw at those who dared climb it. Even still, he  _defeated_ each and every one of them in battle.

“What was he like?” Gold asked. “When he was still here, when he was still just a trainer?”

“I didn’t know him that well, I only met him because I was a member of the elite four  when he challenged the league,” Lance replied. “But I had heard rumors about a trainer. He was apparently a normal enough trainer, until you fought him. When you battled him, he never made a mistake. Even when his pokemon would take critical hits or he would call them back, he was always confident.”

“So it was like he had complete control over the battle?” Gold asked.

“Yeah. I’ve never seen the kid use a potion on his pokemon before, in fact, I don’t think anyone has,” Lance said. “When he challenged me, I was never able to make any of his pokemon faint. I’m not even sure if anyone has even defeated Red before. It’s quite possible no one has.”

Gold was intrigued. So there existed a trainer that had apparently never lost before.  That was normal for rookies who had battled once or twice and never again, but  not  for someone who  had bec o me champion.  Was Red even still on the mountain? It had been four years, after all. The last person that had scaled the mountain had done it  six months ago, and they were the last person to confirm Red’s presence on the mountain.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late,” a slim figure exclaimed from behind Gold. “There was a challenger at the gym, and I needed to beat them before coming here.”

Lance looked up to see the figure, who was now sitting down at the table. “Blue! Finally, it’s been half an hour!” Lance lectured Blue.

“Sorry, sorry. I have duties at the gym,” Blue defended himself. He looked over to Gold. “Hey, there, champion. Last time we spoke was when you challenged my gym. You invited me to learn more about Red, right?”

“Yeah! You were friends with him, so you must’ve known him well!” Gold exclaimed enthusiastically. He was  _quite_ intrigued by Red.

“Well, I haven’t spoken to him in two years, but I’m probably the best source you’ll be able to get,” Blue  said. “What exactly about Red did you want to know?”

“What was he like? I mean, as a trainer, before and after he became champion.” Gold asked.

“Well...” Blue seemed to sift through old memories in search of information about Red. “ Red was quiet. He never said much, always preferring to listen rather than to speak  for himself. Even when he began gaining some traction, he never brought it up in conversation unless asked,” Blue paused. “Do you remember when  we thought that  team rocket disbanded?”  he asked.

“Uh, yeah. I was really surprised.” Gold answered.

“That was Red’s doing. He singlehandedly took down the largest criminal organisation in Kanto.” Blue paused to allow Gold to process the information. “You may not have heard since you were in Johto, but there were multiple cases of Red liberating an area from team rocket. There was the old pokemon tower in Lavender Town, and Silph Co, and probably more.”

“They flared back up again in Johto a little while ago, but their presence was not nearly as great as it was before,” Lance added in. “I believe it was you, Gold, that dismantled them.”

“Yeah, but it was hard. And I got help from Lance to do it. Red did it all on his own, and to an even larger force.” Gold said.

“But don’t worry too much about it, kid.” Blue comforted. “You took the remnants down back when you were just challenging the Johto league, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Since then I’ve become Kanto champion, too.” Gold responded.

“Exactly. Red only ever became champion of the Kanto league. He never challenged any other regions.” Blue said. “You’ve surely gotten stronger since then.”

“But be wary.” Lance warned. “I do not think that Red abstained from challenging other leagues due to any weakness of his own.”

Gold looked down at his beverage. How strong was Red, really? He was able to conquer the entire Kanto region with ease, but he _only_ conquered the Kanto region. Gold was able to win over both Kanto and Johto. But then again, it had been two years since Red travelled Kanto, and he had gone off with all of team rocket to stop him. Gold thought about it some more.

“How dangerous was team rocket?” Gold asked. “Like, before the disappearance of Giovanni.”

“Ah, so you know about Giovanni.” Blue pointed out. “Well, I didn’t have many encounters with them, but to my knowledge they were _very_ dangerous. They had operations running at the Celadon game corner, and their boss even had a position as a gym leader before I took it.”

“Red, how close to the level of a gym leader was the main boss of the rocket resurgence that you encountered?” Lance asked.

“Oh, well...” Gold thought. “They were above the level of most of the leaders. Maybe in between Pryce and Clair?” Gold said with uncertainty.

“Ah. Well then Giovanni was most likely stronger than them.” Lance said. “The man didn’t often give his all in pokemon battles. Not when someone challenged him as a gym leader, at least. He would only really become serious if you were to challenge him as the leader of team rocket.”

“His exact strength, I am not sure of.” Lance said. “But it could be anywhere between high gym leader level to bordering champion level.”

“Well, in any case, the original team rocket was stronger than whatever you faced in Johto.” Blue stated. “But hey, that doesn’t mean you don’’t have a chance at beating Red. We’ve gotten stronger since Red challenged the Kanto league, and you’ve beaten us before.”

“Well, thank you for the information.” Gold said. “I’ll do my best to defeat Red!”

“That’s the spirit!” Blue cheered. “But do be careful. Red has been up there for _years_ , and he doesn’t like to lose.”


	2. Ascending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gold makes his way up Mount Silver.

Gold patiently waited inside of a cave. The blizzard outside had grown too fierce for him to keep climbing. With him was his Typhlosion, keeping him warm as always. He occasionally wafted the smoke generated by the fire out the cave entrance.

  
  


Gold’s pokegear had stopped receiving signal about a quarter of the way up the mountain. The storms on and around the mountain blocked out communications between it and the satellites that coordinated it. Gold estimated that he was about a third of the way up the mountain, but he really couldn’t be sure without his pokegear.

  
  


As the storm began to aggravate, Gold gave a thought to the challenge after the climb. After he finally reached the summit of the mountain, he would have to face Red. Gold began lining up both their achievements to try and compare strength.

  
  


Red had won a championship. He had taken down an entire criminal organisation, and also dealt with the monstrously powerful pokemon they had created. He did all of that completely on his own. He then left his region, and settled at the top of Mount Silver. Gold didn’t even bother to try and figure out how he got enough supplies up there.

  
  


Gold had won two championships, and had taken down the fragments of a criminal organisation using some assistance from the people around him. He had captured a few legendary pokemon, but it wasn’t like they had been causing any problem at the time. After that, Gold just kind of went home, training and casually battling every so often.

  
  


Red’s resume seemed just a tad bit more impressive than Gold’s. But he reassured himself that the tasks could’ve ranged anywhere from being an absolute breeze to overwhelmingly difficult for Red. The information he had about Red was a bit vague. It wasn’t like anyone was documenting Red’s strength level as he journeyed across Kanto.

  
  


Blue had lost the battle against Red for the title of champion. He recalled Red as being calm and composed throughout the entire event. Blue couldn’t tell if he had weakened any of Red’s pokemon, as they didn’t react to any of his hits, but Red still switched pokemon every once in a while. It was possible that he was just bluffing, and his victory was closer than it seemed.

  
  


The storm outside winded down, and Gold began packing up his things. The climb would have to resume if he wanted to make it to the top. Already Mount Silver reigned far, _far_ higher than any other mountain he’d climbed, and he still wasn’t even halfway to the top.

  
  


Typhlosion didn’t return to his pokeball, instead he stayed out as a deterrent to any wild pokemon that could pose a threat to Gold. Gold looked down before he returned to the hike. By now, the haze below was too thick to see through to the bottom. The storm seemed to be moving downwards, meaning Gold’s view to whatever was above improved from before.

  
  


Gold eventually reached what he approximated to be the halfway point. For once, the weather cleared up, allowing Gold a fraction of a moment to enjoy the mountain. He looked down, able to see the Earth below him. Gold couldn’t help but smile. Kanto and Johto lay beautifully below the mountain. They seemed so small at that moment. Gold’s laughter echoed through the mountain, miraculously not triggering an avalanche.

  
  


Gold had been scaling the mountain for what felt like eons at this point. In the current storm, it was impossible to make out any difference from his current position to his previous position. Gold could barely even tell how far up Mount Silver he was. He estimated that he was somewhere around two thirds of the way to the peak.

  
  


The gale finally dissipated, allowing for Gold to make out the sight around him. He was noticeably higher than before, and there was something up above. Gold could make out a faint glow at the peak of the mountain. It was like a distant fire burning away. Red was still on the mountain.

  
  


The embers grew in size as Gold approached. It distracted him from his numb fingers and tired legs. It had been around a month and a half since he had first spotted the flame. Gold’s skin was noticeably paler than it had been before he had begun his climb, this was due to the lack of sunlight he was receiving.

  
  


Gold began to get closer to the summit of the mountain. He had already passed the clouds, enabling him a gorgeous sight along with freedom from the constant storms that plagued the rest of the mountain. The wind and the lack of oxygen still posed an issue to Gold, but it was better than storms and a few avalanches. There were also less pokemon this high up. And the ones that _were_ there were more peaceful than the ones below.

  
  


During the night, Gold often found himself gazing up at the stars. He could make out every detail in the sky with ease. On some routes during his previous travels, Gold was also able to see the night sky. It was almost impossible in the city due to the amount of light pollution. But on Mount Silver, the view was better than ever. There was nothing at all to block your view. Not planes, nor any other trainers. It was magical.

  
  


There were only a few more kilometres left of the mountain. The embers at the top flickered about, providing a guiding light for Gold. His voice was weakened. He was not required to speak much, apart when communicating with his pokemon. The cold also made it preferable to just keep quiet. Gold took a look at everything underneath him. The world below him seemed so small. It was odd.

  
  


Gold was less than a meter away from the top. The embers he had seen so long ago burned with an intense ferocity. As he took the final steps required to complete his quest up Mount Silver, Gold saw a figure grow before him. It was not a pokemon, but another human. Behind them, a Charizard kept them warm with their fire. It was Red.

  
  


Red stood with complete calm, yet at the same time he was menacing. You could feel his strength, his passion.  He wore a summer’s attire, receiving warmth from the fire behind him. On Red’s belt were six pokeballs. They looked worn, having seen years of use. Red silently stared at Gold, a spark clearly visible in his eyes.

  
  


Gold had finally reached the top of Mount Silver. He had reached Red, the ultimate opponent and the final challenge for him. There were no signs of weakness present in Red’s figure. Red called back hi s Charizard. His movements were absolute, they had no hesitation,  and each was executed with intent behind it. Red reached for a pokeball at his belt, signalling Gold that he wished for a battle. Gold swallowed his fear, and did the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had originally wished to add a final chapter including the battle, but I did not know how to write it. If either of the characters won, I feel like it would undermine the other. I also find it difficult to write pokemon battles while still keeping them interesting without devolving into just stating what's happening on the field.


End file.
